7 Hours
by AngelicPug
Summary: This story is about Parker, a rebel fighting to live. Parker will have to face challenges, whether it is fighting Combine, losing a dear friend, or even just being emotional. Rated T for swearing.
1. Chapter 1: Firefight

Nobody was ready. I wasn't ready. Even the people that were geared up for this type of situation weren't ready. I was with my brother before it all happened, the 7 hour war. Those Combine bastards got us at our most un-suspecting moment, and they got us good. I don't know what happened to my family after this whole ordeal, but I know my brother is alive. I knew I had to find him no matter what would happen to me. "PARKER, what the actual fuck are you doing?! Get the hell up and fight with us!" Jason yelled, forcing me to get up. The Combine found my hideout with a few other rebels, and I wasn't willing to give it up so easily. Grabbing my SMG and loading it up, I fired upon the bastards. I can't let them get away this time and giving them the chance for more reinforcements. "Die you fuckers!" Jason laughed as he fired a rocket upon an APC, instantly causing it to fly up in the air and crush some Combine under it. "Jason, is the back gate closed?" I asked grinning at the sight of the Combine who got crushed. "Hell yeah, Parker! We got these fuckers funneling into the front gates, I'm surprised they are still even trying to take us out. It's kind of sad seeing how stupid they are." Jason replied firing another rocket straight into a shack some Combine soldiers were taking cover in. "Holy shit Jason! Did you see those Combine guys run out flaming? Ha!" Matt said, "You see those cars over there, Jason? We got around nine to twelve Combine hiding out behind 'em. Take them out, will ya?" Jason smiled, he loved shooting rockets, especially when he had a reason to. All the cars the Combine were hiding behind still had gas in them, and quite a bit too. This will be a good explosion.

"HOLY FUCK!" I exclaimed, as a few cars went flying into the air like the APC and multiple Combine soldiers did too. "Uhm, Parker, we got a bit of a problem. The Combine got through the back gate, and we got around fifteen helicopters flying in from the west." Evan said, panting, with a scared expression on his face. "Fifteen? Parker, we gotta get out of here! Maybe the bunker?" Jason said worryingly. "Okay then... Okay... Jason, go get Matt, and... Uh, bring Evan with you too. I'll go get Ilesha and round up the others." I ordered, starting to run to Ilesha's sniper tower. Fifteen helicopters? Even White Forest's firepower would have a problem with that, but there was something strange about this. Fifteen isn't usually how many helicopters the Combine would send, and it was even weirder since this place I was holed up in with the others is just some petty warehouse out in the middle of nowhere. Unless the Combine knew about the bunker. "What are you doing here Parker? I'm trying to kill some Combine here!" Ilesha said angrily. "Fifteen helicopters are incoming! We got to get the others and get into the bunker!" I said panting, wiping some sweat off of my forehead. "Fifteen?! Well then... Okay, I'll go get the others and send 'em to the bunker, you hurry up and get to it!" Ilesha replied as she climbed down the ladder from her sniper tower. The bunker wasn't fully explored, and that was a problem with going in it. Some headcrabs were scattered about here and there and it was so dark a few of my soldiers might get head humped! The headcrabs were a problem for the future, and worrying about getting everyone to safety is the problem that has to get dealt with right now. "Jason, you ever taken down a helicopter?" I said looking behind me. "Yeah, why?" Jason replied. "Well, it looks like we got a curious heli that decided to scout ahead the others..." I said eyeing the lone helicopter coming for the west. "On it, Parker!" Jason said as he ran out into the open with a rocket launcher in his hands. Jason was a crack shot, and it was no surprise when the first rocket was a direct hit. But something was wrong. Jason was running, yelling something... It sounded a bit like, get out of the way? I now knew why. The helicopter had spun directly for the bunker entrance. It was obvious now, the helicopter wasn't just scouting ahead, it was just a last chance to kill some more of us.

I thought I was dead, what with the helicopter crashed right on my legs. Blood, all I saw was blood. A dead body. Jason? Evan? Matt? I didn't know. I couldn't even see it as of now, everything was getting bright, and I was... Walking. Walking towards the light.


	2. Chapter 2: Bunker

"Parker? You alright man? You're legs are... Whatever. We gotta get down into the bunker, Parker! Wake up! Wake up!" Jason was yelling over the sound of fire and explosions, "Parker... Man... The helicopters are almost here! We have to go Parker! Please, wake up. Ilesha, help me pick up Parker. I got his arms." Ilesha instantly grabbed my legs. The pain, it was almost unbearable. I felt like yelling to put me down, but no words came out. I remember, just before I walked into the light, Jason's words brought me back. What was wrong with my legs? Am I crippled? Who died? Did anyone die at all? So many questions. I tried asking these questions to no avail, still, no words came out! What was wrong with my whole body?! "My god... His legs... Will he ever walk again?" Evan asked worryingly. What was wrong with my legs?! I need to know, I need to! I have to be able to walk! Those motherfucking Combine... I swear I will kill every single one of them. The bastards.

"Set him down, set him down." Ilesha said, almost on the verge of tears. I've never seen Ilesha cry, not even a single tear. What was so horrible she was about to cry? Do my legs even exist anymore? They do. That's how I felt the pain, obviously... I don't even care about my legs anymore. I just want them gone. I want to know if anyone died, or got wounded. "D-d-did anyone... Die? Ilesha? J-Jason...?" I asked, surprised I could even talk. "Ilesha! He's talkin', get over here!" Evan said also surprised. "Did anyone die?" I asked again, with a reply this time. "No, Parker, the only person I know that is dead was that goddamn Combine pilot... What a bastard." Evan said, reassuring me. Nobody died, thank god. If we had lost Matt... I wouldn't even know what to do. "The helicopters are here, and they are going nuts." Jason exclaimed. "Well, no duh, Jason. Hmm, I wonder where those explosions are coming from? Dur da dur." Matt said jokingly. "Ladies, this is no time to have a catfight. We have to get to White Forest, and we have a chance since we haven't explored this bunker. It could lead directly outside White Forest!" said Pachirovlska. "Hey, who told your Russian ass that you were suddenly in charge?" Ilesha said angrily. "Well, Ilesha, I felt like I should take up leadership with our friend Parker injured here." Pachirovlska replied with a jerky tone. "I think I would be second in command if Parker had a choice." said Jason as he sharpened his combat knife, "I mean, we're pretty much brothers." Ilesha laughed at this, and so did I along with some others. At least Jason knew how to lighten up the mood at the darkest moments.

**12 DAYS LATER**

"Jason, can you go get some water? We're about to start on this little expedition once again." I said hitting a pick against the bunker wall. "It'd be my pleasure, Parker." Jason replied as he started to head out into the darkness where the water pipes were leaking out fresh, clean, purified water. "I found an exit! I found an exit everyone! Hurry, hurry!" Evan yelled from down a corridor. An exit! Finally. We've been in this fucking bunker for at least 10 days. Hopefully the exit goes out into the wilderness, I NEED a breath of fresh air. Even better, the exit would be right at White Forest. This bunker had so many hallways, dead ends, and headcrabs it was a blessing to get out of here. My leg wasn't broken, it was my ankle, thankfully, that was just broken, while my other ankle was fine somehow. Me and Ilesha had made some makeshift crutches, which were surprisingly handy. I walked over to the supposed exit Evan had found, and it was not leading out into the forest. It seemed like a burnt house from the bottom of the ladder that lead up. This was, however, a problem. I couldn't really get up that ladder without help. I'll just have to wait until Ilesha or some other person makes a sort of elevator. "Crap... There are some dead rebels up here." Evan's voice echoed through the bunker. Dead rebels... Shit. "We got some APC tracks up here, and some sort of pod thing. Looks like it burnt this house down." Ilesha added. Wait... Pod? I hope we don't run what was whatever in that pod. "Looks like something got out of the pod and started heading... north? Yeah. Wait... North is White Forest. Damn." Ilesha exclaimed, "Hey, Parker, you need some help to get up here?". "Yeah," I replied. "I got him, Ilesha." Matt said as he grabbed me, along with Pachirovlska. "Damn, Parker, you're heavy." Matt grunted. "Well, you wouldn't think I'd be as light as a baby, huh?" I replied laughing. "Yeah, whatever, Parker..." Matt said as he smirked. While I was being lifted up, I heard Ilesha gasp then say, "Guys... We got some Combine friends coming."


	3. Chapter 3: Crutches

Blood... Blood dripped down onto my face from above. Blood. Blood from the Combine soldiers that came to greet us, or blood from Evan or Ilesha. I didn't want to know. I hoped it was some Combine asshole who thought close range attack was a good idea. I hope so. "Parker, can you reach the ledge? I'll hand up your crutc-Ugh! Just hurry and grab the ledge, you're getting heavy!" Matt said as he lifted me up a bit more. "I got it Matt, hand me a crossbow." I said as I grasped onto the ledge and lifted myself up. "Hey, Pachirovlska, you see that crossbow? Hand it to me!" Matt said to Pachirovlska, grasping the crossbow and handing it to me. "Take this you Combine fuckers!" I said right before I shot a bolt right into the chest of a soldier. I was doing a kind of rapid fire with the crossbow, with most of the bolts hitting. I saw Evan had been hit right in the arm, and Ilesha was trying to help him. "OH FUCK!" I yelled before I was hit right in the head with the butt of an AR2. The Combine soldiers had flanked me.

I can't hear anything, it's just ringing. I can still see and fire though, and I'll do just that. I hit the soldier that almost knocked me out right in the eye, causing more blood to splatter on my face. "Parker! Take this SMG and cover my ass!" Jason said after he threw me a SMG and ran into the forest. Maybe he was trying to flank the Combine. "Oh shit... Parker, we got an APC and some reinforcements comin' in!" Ilesha said as she started to drag Evan back towards the bunker, "Get inside, Parker, get inside!". "What about Jason? He's out there somewhere!" I said obviously worried. "Parker... Parker just... Please get in here! Jason can handle himself!" Ilesha said, right before a scream was heard, along with multiple shooting sounds. "JASON!" I yelled, starting to crawl towards the source of the scream. "No... Parker... Stop! The APC is out there!" Ilesha said as she grabbed onto my good ankle, and pulling me back towards her. "Ilesha let go of me! LET GO OF ME!" I yelled, a tear running down my face. Jason and I had been like brothers, together since we both became rebels. I couldn't let him die, but Ilesha had the help of Matt and Pachirovlska. "Parker, Parker, you had no chance to save him! Okay?!" Ilesha said as she tried to hug me. "Get off me, Ilesha! Maybe if you had helped we COULD HAVE SAVED HIM!" I said, pushing Ilesha against the wall. "Parker, you just need time to relax. Calm down." Ilesha said, pulling up a chair and pushing me down onto it. "Our relationship will NEVER be the same again, Ilesha... Now fuck off." I said as I kicked the chair with my good ankle and pushed Ilesha away once again.

"Well I don't care how you feel about us since I know leaving Jason was the right thing to do." Ilesha said as she started to walk down the corridor. I've never felt so, so... Horrible. I wish I hadn't said hose things to Ilesha, but I would've said that to anybody. Maybe Jason had lived, maybe he actually did take down those Combine assholes. I chose to believe that, I know it could be true. Maybe the scream was from a soldier. I hope so. I used my crutches to walk toward where Ilesha had went, and I intended to say sorry. I saw her sitting down in a corner, fixing her sniper, muttering under her breath about how ungrateful I was. We were in love, even though we didn't show it much. With all the fights with the Combine and training recruits, we didn't really get much time together. "Ilesha... I'm sorry. Jason is just like a relative to me and losing him... Well, it kind of crushed me." I said, looking her straight in the eyes. "I understand, Parker, I lost my whole family at the beginning of this shit war. C'mere, Parker." she replied with a smile on her face. I walked toward her and got a small peck on the lips. "I love you, Parker." she said. "I know." I replied. Maybe tomorrow we can look for Jason... Or his remains.


	4. Chapter 4: Evan's Story

"Shh, stay down... These bastards got us surrounded." Tyler said to Evan. The Combine were indeed surrounding Evan and him, and Tyler just wouldn't give up.

"Tyler, are we getting out of this?" Evan said as he wiped some tears off of his face. He knew what was to come.

"Evan... Evan, you are getting out of this. You." Tyler said just as a Combine soldier climbed through the window he and Evan used to get in the building they were taking cover in.

"You mean we, right? Right?" sobbed Evan with a large frown on his face. Evan was only 12. The Combine came 2 years ago, killed his family, and done everything they could have done to ruin Evan's life. Except take Tyler away from him.

"Evan, you know what I meant. You can get out of here, from that broken vent behind us. I'm pretty sure it leads behind these idiots, but I'm not so sure. As long as there is a chance you live, I'm fine with that. Go Evan. Run." Tyler said, getting his fighting face on. The times he put on this face were the times Tyler usually got beaten. Tyler was more suitable for the run and hide method instead of the stay and fight method.

"Tyler, come on, you can fit! Just try! Please!" Evan said as he crawled into the vent, trying to bring up a smile and reach out for Tyler.

"Evan, don't make this harder for me. Trust me, this is for your own good. I love you." Tyler replied, pushing Evan down into the vent. Maybe he didn't fight that great, but Tyler would give the fight of his life to give Evan a chance.

"TYLER! TYLER!" Evan yelled out when he heard multiple gunshots ring through the vent. Tyler was gone... Evan felt like shit. He couldn't move. Until he heard someone's voice.

"Hey, kid, shush. Come on down. I'll catch ya'." A mysterious voice said when Evan started crying. He took the orders and crawled to the end of the vent, and dropped down.

"Uumph... I got ya' kid, I got ya'. I'm George. My son here, is Parker." George said. Evan had never met another kid before, but it still didn't make Evan happier. He had just lost his one and only friend in this forsaken, dead world. Tyler and him didn't deserve any of this. Nor did anybody else.

Evan slouched down, tears running down his face. These new people didn't really mean anything to him, all he could think of was Tyler. He looked to see what George and Parker were doing, and it seemed George was chatting with someone on a grey box, with knobs and buttons and some weird metal sticks attached to the top. Parker was kicking a can around, scratching against the concrete on the floor.

Evan had just now noticed he was in a bunker. There were some leaky pipes here and there, and there were stairs leading up. Maybe he could ask George what was outside, to forget about Tyler. Who knows, Tyler could have lived...

"G-G-George... What's up those... Stairs?" Evan asked George shyly.

"The stairs lead up into a warehouse, and outside the warehouse is a large piece of land with large walls and some sheds. We can't go out yet, because we heard those Combine fella's scrambling around. They must've found you hangin' around." George replied, spinning the knobs on the metal box.

"What's up the vent?" George asked Evan.

"Um... A building... With windows. Lots of windows. The windows are broken though, and there are big white barrel things outside of the building with ladders and scary guys with guns. And maybe someone else..." Evan replied looking down at his feet with a frown.

"That sure sounds scary. Why don't you just sit down on that green couch over there and forget about the scary guys while I work on this radio." George said staring at the radio.

Evan obeyed and sat down on the comfy green couch. George had a weird arm thing, with this orange symbol that looked like a triangle with no bottom and extra small lines on the ends. He also had a vest kind of like the police people back in City 21. No, it was exactly like.

Maybe things wouldn't be that bad, and maybe Tyler was in a better place. A way better place.

"White Forest, White Forest come in!" George said with a huge smile on his face.

"Hello Tango, we got you. Repaired your radio I see." someone on the other end of the 'radio' replied.

"White Forest, we found a child after hearing some gunshots. I think some stray civilian and his son came to get to White Forest. We also are currently being surrounded by Combine, and it looks like Terri got taken down... Ugh." George said as he brought his hand to his face and rubbed his nose.

"I gotcha, Tango. We'll send Sand and Serra. If you need any further backup, we'll be sending Uret and Uruaq." the radio said, then making a whizzing sound and no longer making noise.

"Okay then... White Forest... Crap." George said sighing.

"Dad, are we getting help?" Parker said when he ran up to George. To Evan, Parker seemed younger than him.

"We sure are son, we sure are..." George replied getting up and grabbing a gun.

**The END, changed my writing style and I think I'll be doing Jason's story and Matt's story next, and then I'll continue on with the main story.**


	5. Chapter 5: Jason's Story

**Character's AGES for this time period: Parker,9 Jason,15 George,31 Evan,12 **

**Parker met Jason before Evan, and with Jason being more 'adult' he is allowed to scout and stray off, which he was doing during the time with Evan and Parker.**

"What're you idiots doing, eh?" Jason whispered to himself, staring through his scope watching the Combine at their camp near the safehouse.

Something was going on, and Jason knew this because the Combine were letting a helicopter go off with a large Combine crate attached to it.

"Wolf, Wolf, dickwad, Come in. You there?" Jason's radio buzzed from his pocket.

"I'm here, Bear. What's up?" Jason asked over the radio. Bear was an ass.

"Just don't be a fucking idiot and live, get the stuff, kill some Combine, that's it. Hurry the fuck up." Bear said rudely over the radio.

Jason grabbed his spork, and took a bit of the beans in a can next to him. Delish. He really shouldn't be eating the beans without telling the faggot lord Bear, himself. But he hadn't had a good meal since... Around 2 days ago.

He hoped to be part of the rebels one day, but not right now. Bear was helping him just as much as the rebels would. For a while, at least.

"Bear, come in. We got some Combine advancing towards the safehouse." Jason said into the radio.

"Bear, I repeat, come in." Jason said once again. No reply.

Oh god, Jason thought. Was Bear compro- Oh shit. Gunshots. Nope. Goodbye Mr. Beary. Heh, he was a faggot anyways... Just a faggot.

"I can brush it off, I never even cared about him." Jason laughed, as he picked up his sniper rifle and kicked down a spike with a Combine soldier's head on it.

I can do what I want, thought Jason. Jason grabbed a Metro Police mask, put on the vest, and the whole uniform.

Jason started running down the hill he was spying on, and he was running fast. Luckily, he knew his way to a sort of other safehouse, but still it was just a warehouse with some crappy walls and old wooden shacks spotted here and there within the walls.

Jason jumped across a log, over a dead antlion, down the stream, across the ravine... You know how it goes.

"Here, Scanny, come on Scanny, c'mere boy!" Jason yelled out into the deep forest.

A beeping sound could be heard, like the inner city scanners. And it was. Its 'flashy thing', Jason called it, was broken, and it had a resistance symbol on the side of it. Jason threw some leaves over the symbol, and then grabbed the destroyed but alive looking manhack off from the side of Scanny. Now Jason looked exactly like a lost Metro Cop with a broken scanner at his side.

"Scanny, boy, act like a normal scanner, and identify the Combine, and me, as friends. Don't break cover, Scanny." Jason said to Scanny.

Scanny came up with a quite funny joke on the spot about Combine, "BEEP BOOP BEEP BAP BAP BAP BAP BAP BAP BAP BOOP." Scanny beeped, proceeding to bounce up and down as if he, no, it, was laughing.

"Shutup Scanny, don't break cover." Jason said with a frown.

Jason ran past some dead Combine guys, and looted them. They only had a SMG and some grenades, but it'd do.

Jason then heard some Combine, probably talking about their kills and laughing about it. They saw Jason and proceeded to walk over to him and spout some dumbass nonsense about how he should be back in City 21 and that they'd escort him back to camp.

"I don't listen to Combine." Jason said, taking the soldiers by surprise when he whacked one across the head with a SMG and Scanny took the other one out with a sort of ram. It didn't really do anything, but Jason still thanked Scanny.

"Crap, I forgot my spork and beans! Ugh, this is your fault Scanny." Jason said jokingly right when Scanny got a bullet through its torso.

"OH MY GOD!" Jason yelled as he started to run for cover. A bullet grazed his side, but he was fine.

Then out of nowhere, bullets from his direction came flying into the attacker's area killing them all off. Jason started to run again, but noticed some non-Combine people running through the trees. Rebels.

"Hey, kid, come with us!" one man yelled, while the others started to scan the area.

"You're lucky we were there to save your ass." another woman yelled, but Jason felt he could've saved himself.

"Kid, my name is George, and I'm a rebel. We got a hideout in a warehouse not far from here, and we'd gladly take a recruit. What's your name, son?" George asked Jason, putting his arm over Jason's shoulders.

"I'm Jason, and I'm no recruit. I've just never had the chance to be with rebels. I've gotten 'round fifty Combine idiots by now." Jason replied.

"Well whatever amount of kills you got, we'll take you back to base. You gonna come or are you gonna find some more Combine buddies to play with?" George said laughing.

"I guess I will... Sir." Jason said grinning.

**Woah amazing #Jason50Kills Okay kiss bye love you I guess**


	6. Chapter 6: Matt's Story

**yay chapter six BTW Parker: 10 Jason: 16 George: 32 Evan: 13 Matt: 18**

The weight felt like it was crushing Matt, overwhelming. Maybe it was just Matt's time, he'd already gotten to be 18 anyways, a pretty good achievement with all the Combine pushing everyone around.

"Matt why don't you push up instead of being a retard and laying there?" Jacelyn said.

"Oh yeah I guess I could do that." Matt said. Maybe he was actually a retard.

Matt lifted the heavy crate off of him, feeling the pressure lift away from his chest. The area they were in was a dark sewer, distant drips of water, and a small flow of clean-looking water flowing on a downward angle towards a light. It was a sort of small Rebel outpost, good enough for Matt atleast.

"I got word Tango is having some more trouble, and needing some food. The Combine just keep attacking 'em." Jacelyn said with a bored look on her face, "Since we are a U group, we are forced to help the T group. Ya got that, Matt? T, U, V, W, Y, X, Z? Huh?"

"Yeah sure who cares let's go." Matt replied, grabbing his pistol and adjusting his backpack.

Last time Matt had seen Tango was a year ago, the only team members being Jason, one year younger than Matt, and George. Then there were two worthless kids that did nothing. Parker and Evan. No wonder they always needed help.

Once Tango bunker was in range, some Combine were visible using a wrecked truck as cover. A tactical throw of a grenade could easily turn the truck, leaving the Combine with no cover. But Matt was too stupid to figure that out.

"Get down Matt, they'll spot us!" Jacelyn said as she gripped Matt's shoulder and pulled him down behind an empty dumpster, "If I could shoot a hole in that tree, get a grenade stuck in there, it should fall and give George some more cover. It'd also be a distraction, so we can flank the soldiers. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. Ready when you are!" Matt replied.

Jacelyn quickly ran over and shot a small hole in the tree, planted the grenade in, and slid over to where Matt was. "Ready!"

The tree hit the floor with dirt flying about and dust flying into the air. The Combine turned their attention to it, and George threw a grenade at them, causing one to fly back and impale himself in a broken fence.

"Come on, let's get 'em!" Jacelyn said weaving through the many pine tries with Matt behind the Combine.

"JACELYN, STOP!" Matt yelled as he slid behind a tree and tried to grab Jacelyn as she ran.

A bright flash covered Jacelyn's eyesight, with pain quickly following, almost going throughout her whole body, slowly going up from her legs to her hips. A grenade must've been thrown.

"Jacelyn, you'll be alright!" Jacelyn heard Matt say over the ringing in her ears. Matt's face was blurry, bullets whizzing by making chunks of wood fly off the trees.

Jacelyn looked down at her legs, looking like a sort of red paste. Maybe nothing was even there. A pool of blood surrounded Jacelyn, with more blood leaking out of the side of Jacelyn's lips. This was, of course, the end for her.

"Matt... Matt, go on." Jacelyn's last words were before the noise of her voice was drowned out by bullet shots and multiple yells from the Combine soldiers.

Matt quickly followed the orders, taking down two soldiers and taking cover. Luckily, the Combine had forgotten George and Jason so they both immediately came from behind and finished the last soldier.

"Matt, get up, we gotta relocate, more soldiers can be coming!" George said.

"Bu-But Jacelyn..." Matt sputtered.

"It's fine, we'll come back, the soldiers won't care about our casualties. They'll just want to add to it. Come on!" George said with a small smile.

"Looks like Uret is no longer and we got another man for Tango. Sorry, pal. Let's go..." Jason quickly added.

**woah there ya go bamm boo bow bow Combine = JERKS**


	7. Chapter 7: Lost Friends

**wowzers another chapter noice**

I laid next to Ilesha, on a soft but dirty mattress with a few springs hanging out. The bunker had no noise, just a blank quietness. It seemed to be early in the morning since I could hear the birds tweeting once I lifted the exit hatch a little more. Combine corpses littered the ground, along with pieces of destroyed APC.

I grabbed my crutches, and lifted myself onto the outer ground. The smell of blood still hung in the air. As I walked towards the pine trees, I remembered of Jason. Not that I could forget, anyways.

"Parker, where are you going?" Evan said from back at the hatch.

"I'm going to look for Jason, even if he is dead we will need his armor and supplies." I replied.

"Well, I'll be coming with you. Jason was my friend too."

We both walked in the direction Jason ran off too, the source of the scream I had heard yesterday. Jason's footprints could still be seen alongside some Combine footprints going in the opposite direction.

"Look up ahead, I think I see an SMG. And it looks like some big hole, too..." Evan said as he rubbed his eyes and squinted.

"Well, let's go. Maybe he fell in." I said.

The hole was pretty big, but not that deep. It was a cave-in going straight into the bunker. A small amount of blood was at the bottom next to a rebel pack. It was most likely Jason's, but there was a possibility it wasn't.

Evan ran over to the other side of a hole and grasped a rock, shaking it about to see if it was loose, "We can come down over here. The rocks seem pretty stable. Come on!"

I walked over, and looked down into the hole. "How do you propose I get down? I got crutches, remember?"

"Don't worry, you won't need your legs for this... Activity. Here, hold onto my shoulders, and you keep a grip on your crutches." Evan said.

I held onto his shoulders, and Evan slowly descended with me. The bottom of the hole was just as quiet as the bunker, probably because it was the bunker.

"Here you go... I'll go check out the pack." Evan said as he dropped me down on some rubble, "This isn't Jason's. It is... What the fuck? This isn't right..."

"What?" I said curiously.

"It is... Pachirovlska's. Isn't he sleeping?" Evan said looking over to me.

"I thought I saw him... Maybe not. But what would he be doing over here?"

"Maybe he is looking for Jason too... But this blood... It's fresh."

"Evan, I think I hear something down through that hallway..."

"I hear it too. Let's go, Parker."

I got up, and walked over to the hallway with Evan. It was dark, except for a small lamp at the end. A fresh blood trail went deep into the darkness, ending at the source of the noise.

"Let me throw a rock at the noise..." Evan said as he gripped a rock and threw it.

The rock impacted against the floor, then hit something fleshy. A dark silhouette got up from where the rock landed, and slowly creeped towards us. It made disgusting noises, like puking.

"Back up. I think it's a headcrab on someone or... Somethin'." Evan said as he grabbed my shoulder and slowly moved us back.

The creature came into the light, a headcrab on its head and wore rebel armor. Blood dripped from its head, with more blood at its left leg. It limped towards us, outreaching its arms, showing hands that looked fake. Its hands were like a rake, four long fingers caked with blood.

"Take it out, take it out!" I said obviously freaked out.

Evan took a few shots at it, but it looked as if it had felt nothing. He took two shots at the headcrab, making it fall to its side and make a noise of gurgling blood.

"Is that... Jason?" I asked.

"No, no. It's fuckin'... Pachirovlska." Evan replied.

"I've never seen a headcrab zombie before. Creepy as hell. Imagine the guys back in Ravenholm."

"We don't go to Ravenholm." Evan said, mocking George's voice.

"I heard Gordon Freeman went through there, killed like 100 zombies, and got out clean. Okay, enough fooling around. We gotta find Jason and get Pachirovlska's supplies, make a small memorial for him." I said, ending the conversation.

We ran down the hallway, picking up the lone lantern and walked deeper into the darkness. A dead headcrab was laying on top of a broken table, a knife stabbed through it. The knife had Jason carved into it, but his name was almost covered in the headcrab's blood.

"He obviously went down here. Let's keep going." Evan said.

Footsteps were echoing throughout the hallway, but I couldn't tell if it was Evan and I or someone else, Jason.

"Hello? Anyone there?" I said.

The only reply I got was some skittering and wood cracking apart. It was probably just our footsteps.

"Get down!" A voice yelled from behind, and I got kicked in the back and had my head pushed against the cold concrete.

The voice sounded like Jason's, but I wasn't too sure.

**You made it to the end! Well, if you actually read it.**


	8. Chapter 8: Cells

**Read on**

The crackling sound of a radio filled my ears. My vision was blocked, and I was tied up. I could faintly smell blood, along with freshly baked beans and bread. I sat alone with a bag covering my head. All I could see through the bag was a couple of chairs, and multiple figures standing far away at the entrance to the room chatting. One of them pointed at me, most likely barking some orders to another, as one of them walked my direction.

"Get up. Now." the figure said to me. It was a soldier, probably holed up in the bunker looking for rebels. His comrades sat over on the other side, watching us.

I followed the soldier's orders and got up. He shoved me forward, making me fall to the ground, screaming in pain from my leg, but he caught me by my neck before I had fallen to far and dragged me roughly forward. From what I could barely see, we where heading towards a makeshift cell with a blood splatter painting its wooden walls. Flies buzzed about, mostly near some dead rats, but also near a couple dead bodies. From what I could tell, they were rebels, the lambda symbol spray-painted onto their shoulder-pads.

"In there." the soldier ordered once again. I followed his orders, and limped into the cell, falling over.

The soldier laughed, saying "You'll never see daylight again." , walking off towards his fellow soldiers.

Someone coughed in the corner of the cell as someone else scraped drawings against the wall. A vortigaunt sat in the middle of the room, his eye closed, making a faint humming sound.

The radio the soldiers were toying with made a loud noise before finally sparking and falling apart. A distant cell across the room had only two people, one of them clanking a cup against steel bars poking out from a destroyed wall. "Hey, new guy, help me out. We gotta get outta here." the coughing guy said, "Name's Tyler. Now help me out."

Tyler threw me a spoon with four little triangles on the end, but it didn't look cut. Strange. Tyler was a name that sounded familiar, a name I heard back in the days I first met Evan.

I followed Tyler, picking up small amounts of dirt with my spoon. The hole was in the spot Tyler was sitting, and it was surprising that the soldiers hadn't noticed him digging or sitting in the same spot. "What's your name, kid? Full name?" Tyler asked. "Oh, it's uh... Parker. Parker Jones." I replied panting. Digging with such a small shove-...Spoon was tiring.

"Nice to meet you... Hey, listen, once we dig enough, we should reach a hallway in the bunker. I've seen a map the Combine guys had." he said, picking up another spoon and tossing it to me. "If your spork breaks, just us that one. I got plenty."

It's a spork. Okay. I grabbed the new spork, mine being bent and caked in dirt. The new one was in a plastic package along with some salt and pepper.

"Your legs are hurt, huh? Take these bars. Found 'em in the hole." Tyler said, pushing them over to me

**20 MINUTES LATER**

I had gone through 6 sporks, and we had reached a concrete wall that was part of the hallway. The only hard part was getting through it without some explosives or a pickaxe. Unfortunately, the bunker had no pickaxes due to it being finished, and the only explosives were in the 'testing section' Tyler had said to have seen on the map, along with a warning of explosives.

As I looked behind me to where the soldiers sat, they were all gone. One was by another cell, the other two heard walking in unseen hallways. The guard by the other cell was very close up to the bars, not saying any words. A faint choking sound was near where he was.

To the left of my cell, a smaller cell was. It only had one lone person, knocked out, laying in the cell. Evan.

"Hey, hey, Tyler? I got someone that can help with getting out of here." I said, "Yeah? Who?" "Over there. That's my friend who got dragged in here with me. He is a sort of demolitions man. He usually hides small explosives in his shoes or pockets. The soldiers might not have checked too well."

"Seems like an idea to me. Wake him up." Tyler said gripping some bars and looking over to Evan.

"Evan, Evan. Wake up." I said, throwing a rock at his head.

"Ow... Wh-What? Parker? Ugh..." Evan grunted as he rubbed his face and got up.

"Evan, you got any little explosives? If you do, toss 'em over!" I said.

Evan searched through his back packets, then opened a flap on the back of his shoe. He picked up a very small explosive, labeled LE. He slid it over the floor, letting it slide into my hand. I walked over to the hole, pressing a button on the LE and shoving it into some dirt under the concrete wall. I looked over to Tyler, talking to Evan. Tyler seemed overly happy, but it didn't matter.

I patted the vortigaunt's shoulder, whispering to get away from the hole in the corner. He obliged, and walked over to Tyler. The man scraping things into the wall had stopped a while ago, and must've saw me planting the LE. "Evan, what does LE stand for?" I asked as I limped over to Tyler. "Oh... Uh, light explosive... I think. Yeah." He replied quickly, getting straight back to the conversation with Tyler.

"Evan! I'm your brother! Tyler!" Tyler said.

"I don't remember you. Are you sure you just have been in here too long, bud?"

"I remember you! You went down the vent when they were surrounding us! I always thought you never made it!"

"You were the one that sent me down the vent? I..."

"Oh, Evan! I've missed you! I've been waiting too fuckin' long!"

A tear streamed down Tyler's cheek, while Evan looked dumbfounded. Their conversation quickly ended after the LE went off.

**TCHHH**

"Holy shit! Let's go Tyler, come on! We can get back here by going around!" I said to Tyler, poking him with my crutch. The vortiguant and the other man slipped under the hole and ran. The vortiguant blasted his green crap, as I had heard an electric sound and a soldier dying. It seems the two had ran into the two soldiers patrolling the hallways.

As for the third soldier, he was laying dead on the floor next to the cell. The cell door was open, whoever was in there was surprisingly sneaky, as I had not heard him escape. Looks like it was just the day to get out of this area of the bunker.

"We'll be right back Evan! Come on Tyler!" I said once again.

Tyler followed me through the hole, and we 'ran' for the entrance to the circle of cells. The two soldiers were ripped to shreds, the vortiguant starting to power a generator with the man looting the soldiers. I picked a pair of keys off of one of the soldiers, limping down towards the entrance. I pushed over the table, knocking it over.

I got to Evan's cell, unlocking it and kicking it open. I reached my hand out, and picked him up off the floor.

"Let's go!" I yelled.

The two of us, including Tyler, 'ran' down the hallway opposite of the entrance, a peek of daylight showing the dust flying through the air of the bunker. As we 'ran', Evan planted one or two explosives labeled XLE, which I suspected to be the explosives Evan pulled out of his pockets.

"Up!" Evan grunted, gripping a rock and steel pole from the rubble we had climbed down to enter this part of the bunker in the first place. A combine with a headcrab charged down the hallway in which we found our friend, zombified. The combine held a grenade in its bloody hands, gurgling noises erupting from the remaining parts of the throat you could see under the headcrab. It rushed Tyler, knocking him off a rock he had latched onto.

"TYLER! TYLLERR!" Evan yelled, jumping off of another rock. I tried to latch onto his shoulder, but he slipped away from my grip.

Evan flew back, blood spraying through the air. I felt as if time had stopped, my ears ringing. Tyler was also flying through the air but... Dead. His leg was gone. A forever look of fear plastered on his face. Blood was splattered on my face. I slipped from my area I was standing on due to me losing my crutches, and fell to the ground. Evan sat there, tears streaming down his face.

"Fuck this world." Evan said, clicking his detonator. The tunnels collapsed, more rubble flying about. The air was quiet after a few seconds, a dead quiet. Evan sat there, holding Tyler in his arms, not showing his face.

I laid on the ground, clutching my stomach, which had been hurt from when I slipped. But I didn't want to worry about that. The only thing I was thinking at that very second, was how long I was going to last?

**Congratulations! You made it to the end!**


End file.
